From New Zealand to Long Island: Leonora Petrina

This week, I thought I’d mix it up a little and try to share another person’s perspective on being a “Young Islander.” Leonora Petrina is a friend of mine who moved to Long Island as a young adult from New Zealand.

Often times we focus on people leaving the Island, but I wanted to remind ourselves why people choose to come or stay here. Leo came here as a student athlete when she studied at and ran for SUNY Stony Brook. It was on the cross country team there she met her husband Mike, originally from West Babylon. The two of them stayed and are currently both working at Sayville Running Co. while living in Bayport.

Leo is a very accomplished runner, having represented her native New Zealand in numerous international competitions and is currently sponsored by the shoe company Saucony. Last year she was the first woman on Long Island to win a road race outright. I interviewed Leo on her life in Bayport, her international roots, and her running career.

Let me know if you like the interview and maybe in future posts I’ll find some other young islanders who have a unique story to share.

Name: Leonora Petrina
Age: 29
Original hometown: Dairy Flat, Auckland, New ZealandWhat initially brought you to Long Island and why did you stay?I was offered an athletic scholorship to Stony Brook. I initially looked at coming to the USA to further my running career and Stony Brook seemed to be the best fit.

Leo during her Stony Brook days

What are some of your favorite things about Long Island?Being close to water anywhere on the Island reminds me of New Zealand. The summers, and the places and people that I run with are both favorites. A lot of what I love comes down to the support from friends and family that are here.What things do you prefer or miss about NZ?The thing I miss the most is my family. I miss a good ice cream and chocolate bar from NZ, which means I don’t eat those things as much here. Also, back home I really liked having access to fresh fruit off my family’s fruit trees rather then paying for them from a supermarket.

Was there a moment when you felt you could officially call yourself a Long Islander?I don’t know if I could ever call myself a true Long Islander, but since returning back to LI with my husband and living through many of his family’s Italian gatherings I might be pretty close.

I understand that alot of your family is spread out around the globe now. Where do they live? Is it hard to keep in touch with them? At this current time I have a Brother in England, My sister and nieces are in the South Island of NZ, and my parents and a brother and nieces in the North Island. Since being in the U.S., they have moved a lot, back and forth to England, Japan and myself to the U.S. Since first coming to the U.S., technology has come a long way and I have a lot more access to contact them, emails, video chat or a simple phone chat.

What is their perspective on where you live? If they’ve visited, what did they think of it before their visit and how did their perceptions change after? Most of what we thought about the U.S. came from TV shows. That gave us examples of what its like here. My dad visited when I was in school and he said he would never complain about the traffic in Auckland again. There are more people on LI then there are in the whole of NZ. My mum visited just after I graduated and was working here. She loved the area, so many trees all around, houses tuck behind them. People think NZ is so green, but in a suburb like Stony Brook there are definitely more trees. My younger brother came this winter, and was a little disappointed there was no snow this year (even though I was not complaining). He loved it and thoroughly enjoyed his trip. They all went back with a more positive attitude to the U.S. then they had before they came.

Talk a little bit about your running, what are your goals, what events do you run?I run anything from 1500-5k on the track, including the steeplechase. On the road, I’ve run anything up to a 7 mile race so far. My goal is to represent my country at the Olympics. All my competitors where training in the USA, so I decided to give it a year at least. After graduating from Stony Brook, I stayed here to further my running opportunities. If i didn’t give it a chance I knew would always regret it.

Leo and her New Zealand teammates, Fiona Crombie and Sarah Biss at the World Cross Country Championships in Spain.

Typically runners of your caliber in the US flock to places like Boulder or Flagstaff which are at altitude and have alot of running related resources. Why did you stay here? What kinds of support systems are in place for an aspiring young athlete on Long Island that make it possible for you to stay? I would like to go out to Boulder and Flagstaff and give it a try someday. I looked into it at one point, but I wouldn’t have any support there. I would be on my own. Unlike a U.S. citizen, I wouldn’t be able to get any assistance from any of the training groups that are based out there. Also I find the winters of LI bad enough, I dont know Boulder’s winters would be fun! Staying on LI had a few different factors influencing it. Mike, my husband is from here and all his family is here. He had a job with the Sayville Running Co., and knew some running-related resources through that so we decided once I returned from NZ that we would stay on LI. Since then we have built up our own little support system between friends, family and other runners. I’m working part time so that I can focus more on my running and we’ve found a good physio and massage therapist. There are good places to train and good people to run with, so in a way I have my own little Boulder or Flagstaff right here, without the altitude.

Where’s the best place to run on LI?I have a few places I like. The trails are good in Connetquot, I also love running on the North Shore with the hills around Stony Brook.